Swerving to avoid a bike, Pops grinned. But he got Mike safe to the town. Once there, Mike saw the sea plane tied to a short pier. That had to be his ride. “Thank you, Zach,” he muttered. Throwing his jacket over one arm, he started for the pier, but heard someone calling his name.
His pulse kicked up—that was a woman’s voice. But when he turned, he saw a local girl with dark hair and green eyes waving at him. “Hey, you’re Mike, right? I’m Seneed. Karen said to give you this before you left.”
He glanced at the brown bag she held out. “It’s not a bomb is it?”
She laughed. “Like I’d handle that. Go on. Take it. She said you’d need some basics to get you going.”
He glanced in the bag and saw a razor, a cheap cell phone, and the deck of cards that he and Karen had used to pass the time during the last storm. Glancing up at Seneed, he saw her grinning at him. “What?”
She pulled a face and shrugged. “Knowing Karen, I’d say this means she cares.”
“Yeah, like she would over a toothache.”
Seneed leaned on one of the pier pylons. “Hey, Karen, she’s had it rough. Her parents passing like that, and then Lyle the snake comes along—you’re lucky you missed that prince of a guy.”
Throwing a glance over his shoulder, Mike asked, “How long does that plane wait?”
“You charter it?” she asked.
“My brother did.”
“Well, Pete flies and he’ll wait all day as long as someone’s paying.”
“Great. Let me buy you a coffee. I want to hear all about this Lyle.”
***
The story wasn’t great. A smooth talking man, a romance, money offered that Karen needed. “Now the guy’s leaning on her to pay up and pay in full.” Seneed shook her head and drank back her iced coffee. “The only shark bigger than him on the island is Pops Warner—he’s been trying to sell off his land for way more than it’s worth. But Lyle—he was bad news. And don’t let Karen fool you—she’s a marshmallow underneath.”
Mike thought about the Karen he knew—the hot one in bed.
Head tipping, Seneed stared at him. “You gonna be something else Karen has to get over?”
“No, I’m going to be the thorn in her side—the man she never forgets, because I’m not going to give her time to get over anything.”
Seneed grinned. “You sound like just the kind of guy she needs. What can I do to help?”
Chapter Seventeen
“I don’t want to hear anymore about it, Zach. I am not going back there.” His cheeks warmed. “I.. can’t go back.”
Zach stared at him. “What do you mean—can’t?”
Mike let out a breath. He’d been back two weeks and instead of finding civilization a breath of sanity, he was missing warm trade winds and Karen’s smile. He’d gotten the paperwork out to her—and back with a signature. The deal was done. Pops Warner had been bought off and shipped off the island, from what Mike had heard from Seneed. But he’d made a deal—dammit.
Frowning, Zach asked, “What did you do?”
Smoothing his tie, Mike picked up the deal he’d inked with Karen. “You didn’t read it, did you?”
“I’m hoping I don’t have to read everything anymore, Mike. I’d like to get back to the ranch—and Lucy.”
Mike shook his head. “Yeah, well, the deal is I can’t go unless she invites me. We’re more than silent investors—we’re invisible. Her terms. She didn’t want anyone looking over her shoulder or telling her what to do, and I gave her that.”
Zach’s mouth fell open. Then he grinned. “Well, I’l
l be damned. Why didn’t you just tell me you’re in love with her?”
“That’s easy. Because I’m not. It was a fling. Two adults having some fun.”